The couple couldn’t be more different. The woman stood a whole head and shoulder taller than the man. Her hair was a bright orange, and skin peppered with freckles. The father was stocky, but not fat. Anaya noticed that Mag definitely took after her father with the dark hair and skin.

“You must be the daughter of Dr. John Watson.” The woman said in a pleasant sing-song voice.

“Yes.” Anaya replied quietly.

“I’m Corrine Sanchez, and this is my adorable husband, Pablo.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Miss Watson.” The man answered in a thick accent.

“I hope you and your family are settling in most comfortably.” The woman continued. “Oh, look dearie! It’s Dr. Rieneck and his gorgeous wife, Mallie!” In the next moment, the woman whisked her husband away and the girls stood alone.

“My parents are, ah, a little strange.” Mag started.

“It’s okay.” Anaya replied. “I think all parents are strange.”

Mag let out a nervous chuckle. “Agreed!”

“Oh, by the way, it’s Ana.” She smiled for the first time at her new friend.

The Quad suddenly grew noisy with the sound of fanfare music as people gravitated towards the large gazebo. Ana and Mag drifted with the crowd until they came within sight of the wooden structure. Inside stood a huge man with a round, crimson face. Everyone grew quiet when he raised a hand.

“Ladies and gentlemen! Ladies and gentlemen and kids of all ages. Welcome to Redemption!”

A cheer erupted in response. It died down when he raised a hand once again.

“My name is Theodore Wyatt Coltrane. I’m also known as Mayor Teddy. As the mayor of this wondrous city, I like to welcome everyone to your new home. At this time, let us bow our heads for a moment of silence for all of those who are not here with us.”

A hush spread throughout the Quad as Ana turned her eyes down. Images of her friends and teachers’ faces passed through her mind. She swallowed hard against the lump in her throat.

“Alright, my dear citizens, I like to take this time and give you a very brief history behind Redemption.” Mayor Teddy stepped sideways till he stood beside a portrait painting on an easel.

“Over one hundred years ago, a group of notable scientists and influential government officials from multiple countries gathered together to discuss their concerns for the future of mankind. They knew there were imminent threats out there with the potential of wiping every living things off the planet. Something had to be set into place to ensure the survival of mankind.” He paused for a moment..

“A man then stepped forward.” Mayor Teddy pointed to the painting of a man who wore a pair of wired-rim round glasses, with dark hair slicked back, and finely groomed moustache. A chill ran down Ana’s spine as she stared at the cold, blackish eyes.

“Dr. Erik Flodson, a Swedish scientist who was exiled to Iceland during World War I. He came up with the idea to build seven separate underground cities that would span across the world. Dr. Flodson personally drafted the blueprints for each city including Redemption. As technology became available, the construction for each city began.”

He waved a hand through the air. “Hence, here we are.”

A short round of applause went through the crowd.

“Now, without any further delay, let the celebration begin!”

The fanfare music blared once more as Mayor Teddy stepped down from the gazebo, and disappeared into the sea of bodies.

Mag tugged at Ana’s elbow. “We could stay here and hang out, or we could head over to the Market.”

Anaya blinked several times as she took in the sight of what looked like a large park. Bright. Spacious. Wide open.

How could this be possible? This far underground?

An enormous grassy field spread out in front of her with a substantial-sized pond near the center. A graveled walkway surrounded the pond with several wooden benches. A single flowing water fountain sat in the middle of the pond. In the back of the park were two large, thick patches of trees.

The air here was slightly humid, but not heavy. She took a deep breath of the woodsy scent that surrounded her.

“Neat, huh?” Mag asked with a wide grin.

“Wow.”

She saw that the Quad was filled with people. Several younger kids ran by them in their game of tag. The adults gathered in groups of various sizes across the park. Colorful streamers and balloons draped everywhere. In the right upper corner stood a large gazebo which was also covered in streamers and balloons.

“There’s usually not this many people here when I come.” Mag said as she stepped on to the Quad.

Anaya looked down as she entered close behind. With a hand, she bent over and brushed several blades. It felt real.

“Is all of this… real?” She muttered.

“Yep, nothing here feels fake to me. Not like what you see out of the window you know.” Mag answered.

Anaya wanted to ask if all the people here were real as well, but didn’t. She carefully glanced around at the many faces, including Mag, and saw that no one wore the electronic device near the ear. She then noticed a smaller pond to her left. A narrow wooden bridge spanned it which connected the large patch of trees to the much smaller one. A group of teens stood next to the bridge.

“Who are they?” She pointed towards them.

Mag’s eyebrows burrowed. “Oh, them. They’re the Starlets. The popular kids in the school.”

“Starlets?” Anaya snickered. “What kind of name is that?”

“It’s a name Kena dubbed them with.”

“Which one is Kena?”

“The blondie.” Mag said in a low voice.

The Starlets contained six members, two of which were females. One was a brunette, and the other a blonde. The blonde looked awful like Barbie to Anaya. Long, stringy hair. Deep sea-blue eyes. She wore shorts that showed off her slender legs, and slim hips. As Anaya studied Kena, she noticed the tall guy who stood next to her.

“Who’s the guy she’s with?”

“That’s Trace.” Mag scowled. “A real jerk.”

“Hmm.”

Trace’s hair was black, and skin a beautiful golden brown. He wore a tight-fitting shirt that revealed all of the muscles of his upper body. She licked her lips.

“Don’t waste your time on any of them.” Mag warned. “They’ll use and then humiliate you.”

“Okay.” Anaya mumbled.

Silence then surrounded her.

“Mag?” She turned and saw that she was alone. She glanced ahead and saw Mag over by the larger pond with a group of adults.

Mom and Eli were in the living room when Anaya stepped down from the stairs.

“Ready?” Mom asked.

“Um, yeah.” Anaya muttered as her mind kept playing back the images of the mark on her back.

“Do you have your digilocator?” Mom asked as she picked up Eli from the sofa.

“Yes.” She answered and lifted up her left arm that held the black bracelet.

“Good.” Mom replied as she led them out of their unit.

Mom turned right and went down the narrow corridor, and stopped at the door that had the black numbers: 157. Seconds later the door whizzed open and a dark-haired girl stood in front of them.

“Anaya, this is Maggie Sanchez.” Mom introduced.

Anaya glanced over the shorter girl. She wore all black. Her eyes were dark. Her skin a bronze color. What really caught Anaya’s attention was all the silver studs that peppered the girl’s nose, lips and eyebrows.

Anaya sat at the table for several seconds before she took the first bite of the sandwich. As she chewed, she forced herself to look at the patio window in front of her.

She missed the endless blue seawater.

Anaya shook her head. This was stupid! Nothing she saw out of that window was real.

Why can’t she shake this feeling of sadness then?

The picture frame must have damaged more than just her foot.

After swallowing the last pieces of the sandwich, she moved to stand up and nearly fell when she planted the wrong foot on the floor.

“Darn it all!” She muttered as she grabbed the edge of the table.

When steadied, she carefully made her way towards the stairway which was partially concealed in the wall near the TV. She entered into the dimly lit corridor. The steps wound sharply to the right and then straight up. Once at the top, she faced a narrow hallway with several doorways.

Everything about the underground seemed to involve a tight-fitting tunnel of one form or another. She felt sure she would eventually become claustrophobic.

Now, which doorway led to her bedroom?

As she hobbled down the hall, she counted two doors on the right, and three on the left with the middle one closed. She stood by that one and heard Eli giggled as Mom sang a lullaby.

Anaya let out a sigh and moved forward until she came to the last set of doors. She recognized the one on the left and entered into her bedroom.

She stood motionless for a moment as she studied the small room. It was nothing like her bedroom back home.

Home.

Everything and everyone she loved back on the surface were now gone.

Dead.

She shook her head hard. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes.

“Ana?” Mom’s voice drifted through the doorway.

Anaya cleared her throat but the lump refused to go away.

“Are you getting changed?” Mom persisted.

“I-I’m working on it.” And slid her door shut.

Why did she have to go? She had no desire to be around people now. She felt wrong about celebrating her survival when so many had perished.

With the back of her hand, she wiped the wetness from her face and leaned towards the built-in dresser in the wall. She yanked out clothes and threw them on the bed. She pulled off her top, and then bent down to grab a shirt when she paused.

There was a full-length mirror on back of the door. She stared at her own reflection.

“What the heck?” She gasped.

There was a large purplish blemish over her right shoulder-blade, near the spot where she’d been burned. Her mouth dropped when she saw that the mark had a form to it.